The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month is now the subject of a criminal investigation opened by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Citing "two U.S. officials familiar with the matter," the Washington Post first reported the development coming days after President Joe Biden visited the site of the collapse. According to their report, the FBI's probe "will look at least in part at whether the crew left the port knowing the vessel had serious systems problems."
Baltimore's Key Bridge used to carry I-695 over the Patapsco River around outer Baltimore Harbor, but most of it came crashing down in the early hours of March 26 when the container ship MV Dali appeared to lose power after setting off from the Port of Baltimore and subsequently ran into one of the bridge's piers.
Most of the bridge, ship, and its cargo are still stranded in the middle of the waterway — and that's where the FBI's criminal probe began on Monday.
More via WaPo:
On Monday morning, federal agents appeared to board the ship to conduct a search. Less than an hour after the sun rose at 6:30 a.m., a succession of three boats pulled to the port side of the Dali. About 6:50 a.m. Monday, people wearing yellow or orange life jackets entered the Dali through a lower door and climbed a ladder to the ship’s bow. About a half-hour later, nearly a dozen more people wearing dark clothing pulled up in a smaller boat and climbed aboard.
The FBI confirmed their report, saying its agents were "president aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity."
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